During my first three pregnancies I basically dressed like a hobo. For some reason I was convinced that it wasn’t worth it to spend money on nice, good-quality maternity clothes so instead, I wore cheap, ill-fitting maternity clothes that, by the end of the each pregnancy, were so stretched out and misshapen, that it wasn’t even worth keeping most of them. Don’t get me wrong; the clothes were cute but they just weren’t good quality. And most of them weren’t really business attire which made dressing for work…questionable, at best.

Now, had you asked us 6 years ago how many kids we planned to have, we probably would have told you two (it’s not that we were lying, it’s more that we changed our minds. Although, if you ask my husband, he’ll tell you that I changed his mind for him but that is really neither here nor there). So I figured I wasn’t going to get a lot of wear out of whatever maternity clothes I did buy which is why I thought I couldn’t justifying spending a lot of money on them.

It turns out that I had no idea what I was talking about. If I could go back in time, I would punch myself in the face for being so cheap and short-sighted. And then I’d go buy myself some nice maternity clothes. I mean, if I had just forked over the cash 6 years ago, I would definitely have gotten my monies worth. Instead I chose to spend upwards of 3 years of my life wearing one pair of pants and old t-shirts that I found in my husband’s closet.

By the end of each of my pregnancies, my belly is so big that not even maternity shirts cover it. And there ain’t nobody wanting to see a 40-week-stretch-mark-covered-belly hanging out underneath a stretched out cheapo shirt that probably has holes in it from being washed too many times.

Maybe some of you are already familiar with Stitch Fix and their undisputed awesomeness. And if you’re not aware, then I’m here to tell you. There’s nothing better. Nothing.

When you sign up for Stitch Fix, you give them your info (height, weight, body shape, style preferences, etc.) and then they give you a personal stylist who picks out five items (anything from pants, tops, jewelry, outerwear, and bags) for you. Then they send it directly to your door. It’s like magic! Then you have three days to try everything on and decide what you want to keep. Whatever you don’t want to keep, you plop in the prepaid envelope that Stitch Fix sends and ship it back. There’s no commitment. You do pay a $20 styling fee but then that money is applied towards whatever you decide to keep.

So, to sum up, you get a box of fun, fashionable clothing delivered to your door, without any real effort on your part and then you get to pick what you want to keep. Who can say no to that? Not me.

I signed up for Stitch Fix over a year ago because with three kids I never have time to shop but am still expected to look like a respectable human being where I leave the house (lame but true). And then, right before I found out I was pregnant with Baby #4, Stitch Fix did me a solid and went ahead and started offering maternity clothing.

Now, I will say that the clothing I get from Stitch Fix is significantly more expensive than I normally spend on…well, anything. But you just can’t beat the convenience factor. And the clothes are high quality. And for a fashion-challenged person like myself, it takes a lot of the pressure off to just have someone who is not fashion-challenged send me clothes.

I’ve received 3 maternity “fixes” so far and I really could not be more pleased. I received several work-appropriate dresses (that I was also able to wear to a wedding that we attended recently), maternity jeans (that don’t cost $11 zillion like other designer maternity denim), leggings, and several tops that are easy to dress up or down. Oh, and a 3-pack of camisoles that I’m confident will become the only shirts in history that can effectively cover my belly until the end.

Please take this opportunity to learn from my mistake. Don’t dress like a hobo. Buy yourself some good, high-quality maternity clothing. Do it now. It’s not too late. You’ll feel good about the way you look and you won’t regret spending the money. Even if this is your “last pregnancy” (I’ve had my “last pregnancy” 3 times now so anything is possible), it’s still worth the splurge.

NOTE – Stitch Fix also offers regular (and by that I mean non-maternity) clothes so if you find yourself dressing like a non-pregnant hobo, I recommend you, too, do yourself a favor and hurry and sign up! Plus, I hear they’re starting to send shoes, too!

Related

About Anna Thornley

Anna Thornley is a Jersey Girl living in the Wild West with her husband, their three children (with another one on the way) and two dogs. She desperately misses the beach and humidity but tries to remember to appreciate the beauty of the mountains. She works full-time outside of the home and is generally frantic in her attempts to keep everyone (and everything) moving in the right direction. Her house is a mess, but everyone in it is happy and loved—so she considers it a success. Anna spends almost all of her free time doing laundry. Her family loves to spend time together watching football and playing outside. Anna is still trying to come to terms with the fact that her family expects to eat dinner every single night. Follow Anna on Twitter to keep up with all her family’s antics: @rudeytudeymama

Reno Moms Blog is a community blog run by moms who live right here in the Biggest Little City and surrounding areas. We share information about what's going on in Reno and events that local moms may be interested in.